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York County Heritage Trust nears decision on possibility of downtown 'history campus'

Flint McColgan, YorkDailyRecord
Published 11:24 a.m. ET May 15, 2015

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Colton Bryson, a fifth-grader at Mazie Gable Elementary School, carries two buckets connected to a yoke as he gets a idea of colonial period chores during a class trip to the Colonial Complex earlier this month.(Photo: Jason Plotkin &#45; Daily Record&#47;Sunday News)

The most ambitious option the York County Heritage Trust is considering for its future has some development leaders excited, but they'll have to wait at least until early June to see which direction the trust will take.

On June 3, the trust and its board will reveal the results of a public survey on the four options it laid out in the "Pondering Change" document released by the group last year.

One option — which would move the entire operation into a York County History Center campus tentatively situated at and around the former MetEd Steam Plant on the 100 block of West Philadelphia Street — is one that some developers and planners think could do a lot for the city.

A major campus like that could create a "critical mass" of activity in the Northwest Triangle and downtown York in general, said Sonia Huntzinger, the executive director of Downtown Inc — a group that promotes enhancing York's downtown.

She said the current spread of the trust's facilities dilutes its ability to market itself. A singular campus "supports the social experience of downtown," much like how Central Market serves as an anchor to stores and restaurants along the Beaver Street area.

That anchored density has had an effect on business owners choosing their locations.

"I wouldn't have started anything downtown if I wasn't within a block of Beaver Street," said Scott Eden, the owner of Holy Hound Taproom.

He added that any addition to the central business district of downtown York would be welcomed and said he liked the incorporation of an old steam plant — historical itself, he said — to a history campus.

Dylan Bauer, the vice president of real estate at Royal Square Development, agrees and is particularly enamoured with the idea of a history campus centered on the old steam plant, which he said still maintains many of the industrial features used when it was producing heat for the city.

State Rep. Kevin Schreiber, D-York, who served as the economic and community director for the city during the later stages of development of the Northwest Triangle, said the project was "about making it an attractive, inviting place where people go to congregate."

"If the Heritage Trust were to do that, it would be a benefit to the city and to the central business district," he added.

The original intent for the Northwest Triangle area of downtown was to "increase the critical mass" of residential space to realize the economic development impact of middle- to upper-income residents living and playing downtown, said David Cross, the chairman of the York City Redevelopment Authority. He said "it's all about density."

While the plans for the area have "ebbed and flowed with the economy," Cross said the zoning for York allows for mixed-use development.

The key to the "development game" comes in two major parts, he said. The first is to create an attractive product — housing — that people are willing to pay for. The second is to offer amenities — like the history center and the variety of businesses already in the area — that keeps those paying customers there.

"The cultural piece becomes a very big piece of the puzzle that solidifies the overall economic development model," he said.

Plus, the timing couldn't be better, he said, because the Keystone Color Works apartment complex is about to get its building permit, and construction of that housing should begin shortly, ready to open around the time the trust might have the center.

The area in consideration also includes the natural feature of the Codorus Creek, as well as the Heritage Rail Trail County Park.

"Any time you get an opportunity to combine and concentrate those historical assets with the environmental aspects, you multiply the desirability of the area," said Michael Helfrich, the Lower Susquehanna Riverkeeper — meaning he's tasked with cleaning up the creek and maintaining it — and a York City Council member.

Educational opportunity

The York County Colonial Complex, featuring the Golden Plough Tavern, the General Horatio Gates House, the Barnett Bobb Log House and the Colonial Court House would anchor the other end of the history center.

Yorker Jeff Robison and his wife, Sandy, were taking their daily afternoon walk in the area earlier this month, toting bags from a day of shopping at the boutiques in the district. While they often take their walks in their residential neighborhood, the couple likes to venture out to the cultural areas of downtown.

While standing outside the nearby York Friends Meetinghouse, Robinson called the possible history campus an "art anchor" that could foster an even greater focus on the arts, history and culture.

While York Academy Regional Charter School is already a member organization with the York County Heritage Trust in order for its students to tour the museums and facilities often, Jim Pastore Jr., the chief academic officer for the school, said having the trust as close to the school as possible would be a treasure.

"If they actually did bring all of their disparate parts together, like the museums and offices and everything and it's that close to our school, that makes it a lot easier for us," he said.

The school is just outside the boundaries of the area considered for the campus. In fact, he said, the school's third graders recently took a field trip to the Colonial Complex, which is a site they could get to on foot.

Sparse details

It's not a sure thing that the trust will pursue the history campus option.

Until the result of the public survey is released, there will be no information on what shape the campus would take or even if the steam plant would be a part of that campus, said Joan Mummert, the trust's president and CEO.

In "Pondering Change" the steam plant was described as the "prime" spot to consider, but Mummert wrote in an email that "to pinpoint a single site is premature."

"We're just digging into funding resources to determine feasibility," she added.

The group has approached property management company Rock Commercial about the property as a "place of interest," said Dave Keech, a brokerage advisor and partner with the firm, and notified it would be printed as an option for the trust to pursue.

It's not the first time the plant had been the site of lofty property dreams. Keech said that it had once been considered as the site for the York Revolution Stadium, before its nearby site of 5 Brooks Robinson Way — near the intersection of South George and East North streets — was chosen.

The plant includes four buildings with about an acre of parking. The largest current tenant of the site is the gym CrossFit York, with other tenants including York Framing Supplies.

"There's a lot of work that would need to be done if they decide to go that way," Keech said. "Right now there's no agreements for anybody. It's been thrown out there as a possibility."

One of the problems listed in "Pondering Change" for the trust to move to a single center would be to give up its traditional Market Street identity.

But Helfrich pointed out that you can't move the Colonial Complex to be near any of the other options, and that the 200 block of East Market Street is simply too far away.

"Let's bring it near downtown," he said. "Where the people are."

If you go

The York County Heritage Trust proposed four options when it released "Pondering Change: An Open Approach to Our Future" and asked for public input. The results of that survey will be released at 5 p.m. June 3 at the Willman Business Center at York College.

"This presentation will include results of the recent assessment and survey, along with a timeline for upcoming steps in the process," according to a news release from the trust.

Here are the four options.

Option A: "Dispersed venues or the 'Status Quo.' This option would largely maintain the way the trust already operates.

Option B: "Consolidation at East Market Street." This would put most of the trust's operations and collection into its central location at 250 E. Market Street and try to maintain the J.E. Baker Building right next door at 232 E. Market St. The Colonial Complex would also be maintained.

Option C: "Consolidation at West Princess Street." This would move the majority of the trust's operations and collections into the Agricultural and Industrial Museum at 217 West Princess St.

Option D: "New Site: York County History Center Downtown." The trust would consolidate in a "cohesive history campus" that could include the former MEtEd steam plant and become a "center-city cultural anchor."